As we noted in the introduction to this section, the Greek words translated as To the present hour and now in verse 13 make these verses a distinct subsection. The Greek is longer and more emphatic here than in verse 13, but the meaning is the same. The apostle’s state is described in verses 11-12a by seven expressions, the first six of which are simple verbs in the Greek joined by “and.” Good News Bible‘s expression “To this very moment” is good modern English. In other languages “up to this day” will be an appropriate expression.
Hunger and thirst should be understood literally, not like the phrase which occurs with “after righteousness” in Matt 5.6. Good News Bible‘s “go hungry and thirsty” shows that Paul is talking about a repeated condition. In languages which cannot equal the English expression “go thirsty” or “go hungry,” one may say “we continually feel hungry and thirsty,” or “we are continually hungry and thirsty,” or “we often do not have enough to eat and drink.”
The Greek word for ill-clad commonly means “to be naked” but also has the wider meaning “not to be (properly) dressed.” The latter meaning fits better with the context in this verse. Translators should find a descriptive phrase in their own language which has the meaning of “dressed in worn out clothes”; for example, “wear clothes which are torn and ragged.”
Buffeted (Good News Bible‘s “beaten”) is a rare word in the Greek. In Mark 14.65 and Matt 26.67, Good News Bible translates this term as “slapped” (see also 1 Peter 2.20; the same verb is used figuratively in 2 Cor 12.7). The form of the word suggests hitting with the back of the hand rather than with the fist or the palm. The important points here are that this was an insulting form of beating, and that it was done with the hand rather than with some kind of instrument. Translators in some languages will prefer to use active verbs here; for example, “people beat us” or “people slap us.”
Homeless in the Greek implies primarily that the apostles lead an unsettled life, moving from place to place. Good News Bible‘s rendering “wander from place to place” (also Revised English Bible) is therefore more accurate than that of Revised Standard Version and New International Version. Barclay‘s “homeless vagrants” is a possible rendering.
Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, 2nd edition. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1985/1994. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .